1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a handle for paint brushes or the like, which facilitates a variety of comfortable and efficient gripping positions, thereby enabling the user to employ the brush in a broader array of applications and contexts, and to use the brush in an easier, more efficient, and less fatiguing manner.
2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There presently exists a number of paint brushes which are provided with a pistol-grip handle for facilitating efficient and comfortable manipulation thereof, such as those taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 167,775, Des. 255,845, Des. 212,668, Des. 199,520, and 2,914,785. The present invention is easily distinguishable over this prior art, however, as none teach the specific combination of the present invention, which combination facilitates more comfortable, efficient, and versatile usage of the paint brush. The most relevant prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,758, which merits the following comparative discussion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,785 teaches a paint brush handle having two or more finger-receiving holes, a pistol-grip portion disposed rearwardly of said holes, and an off-center, longitudinally elongated portion extending rearwardly of said pistol-grip portion. Among the problems and disadvantages with this particular structural configuration of the prior art are that the structural integrity of the handle is considerably weakened by said holes provided therethrough, said pistol-grip portion is not provided with finger-conforming grooves which would enable more comfortable and efficient gripping of the brush, and said rearwardly extending, longitudinally elongated portion has proven to be difficult and awkward to manipulate due to it being positioned substantially removed from the central axis of the handle, thereby severely limiting the versatility of deployment of the brush therewith, thereby rendering it inefficient vis-a-vis the apparatus of the present invention, as will hereinafter be clearly seen.
The present invention basically comprises, in the preferred embodiment, a first portion to which the bristles are securely attached thereto, a pistol-grip portion extending rearwardly therefrom, wherein the pistol-grip handle is provided with finger-conforming grooves which enable the brush-user to comfortably and firmly grip it, and a longitudinally elongated portion extending rearwardly from said pistol-grip portion at least substantially along the central/longitudinal axis of the brush, thereby facilitating a more comfortable and efficient gripping of the pistol-grip handle by preventing the hand from sliding up the pistol-grip handle, and further, said longitudinally elongated portion can be gripped in the same manner as a conventional paint brush handle, thereby enabling the user to reach areas which are otherwise inaccessible, which has not been possible with the brush handles of the prior art, due to the total absence of the longitudinally elongated portion with most of the pistol-grip handles presently in existence, or, as is the case with U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,785, the mispositioning of the longitudinally elongated portion, thereby rendering it awkward, uncomfortable, and inefficient to manipulate. Also, by inverting the handle of the present invention, the user can grip the longitudinally elongated portion more firmly and comfortably, as will hereinafter be more clearly seen, thereby preventing slippage of the hand up the handle and preventing excessive fatigue when painting for long periods of time.
Also, it will clearly hereinafter be seen that the paint brush handle of the present invention facilitates the alternate gripping of the paint brush handle between the pistol-grip portion and the longitudinally elongated portion, in a much easier and rapid manner than has been theretofore possible with the devices of the prior art.
Many other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: